Vitamin D – How Much Is Too Much?

Posted by admin

June 23, 2012

Vitamin D is vital for absorbing and maintaining calcium levels in the body, and therefore reducing the risk of fractures from falls and broken hips. Vitamin D is also beneficial for fighting cardiac disease, depression and various types of cancers and although scientists are aware of the fact that a Vitamin D deficiency is unhealthy, new research has now revealed that excessive Vitamin D levels are also unhealthy. According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, researchers from the University of Copenhagen support the benefits of vitamin D in terms of mortality risk.

Researchers from the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at Copenhagen’s University evaluated blood samples from 247,574 individuals obtained from Copenhagen’s General Practitioners Laboratory. The study is the largest of its kind, and its findings support other research that has found that vitamin D is of benefit with regard to mortality risk, although the results also demonstrated that people with too high levels of vitamin D had a higher rate of mortality.

Darshana Durup, a PhD student, explained:

“Our data material covers a wide age range. The people who participated had approached their own general practitioners for a variety of reasons and had had the vitamin D level in their bloodstream measured in that context. This means that while the study can show a possible association between mortality and a high level of vitamin D, we cannot as yet explain the higher risk.”

Nutrition

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